Today's supposed to be a celebration. It's the last of the year, so there's supposed to be sleeping in, drinking, dining, and partying.
At 330, I was up. At 5:30 I was hiking. An hour in, at the furthest point from home, I got caught in a thunderstorm. I'd taken a different path than normal, which broke my rule to always be near the trains. There was only one way to get home through the storm, and it was just to plow through. The rain soaked my jacket, my jeans, and was cold to boot. It just was one of the worst hours of my life. I had absolutely no control of my environment, I did everything I could to keep what I had on me dry, and in the end just had to hope for the best and make it home.
This is the year coming up. There's a lot not under my control. I've got things in motion, but I can't control the outcomes of most of them. Some are in the hands of others, some just rely on the winds. But like today, all I can do is my part. No matter what happens outside, I know what I can do, and as long as I do my best. I'll find my way home.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The Gap Week.
I'm in an extremely quiet office today. Everyone is still out with their families and friends, and won't be back until a new year rings, and everyone pushes the restart button on their lives. New goals, new resolutions, a can-do attitude that gets crippled in the winter. If New Year's was still in April, I think a lot more resolutions would get done.
I'm crap with resolutions. I'm crap with saying 'I'm going to do this!' and make it happen. I'll shut down. I don't know the how or why of it, but the more I tell, the less likely it becomes. In a normal circumstance, I would learn to just shut up. But I'm also not very good at that.
What -does- work is putting myself in a position where I can't -not- do what I've promised. That I back myself into a corner so tight that the only thing to do is succeed. And in 2011, there's more than a few things going on.
The first is working with my boyfriend to get him settled in Chicago. That's a big challenge and a bigger stressor. There's a lot of concerns and challenges, and I'm focusing on the material problems, rather than addressing the emotional ones. Over the year, I need to address all of them. I love him to pieces, and would a love a life with him.
The second, is Optimist Theatre's Will-ness program. I pledged to drop 75lbs over the next year, doing everything 'right': Diet, exercise, mental wellness. In return, I have a handful of sponsors pledging money on a per-pound basis. This breaks with some older mental health plans I had, but screw it. I love the Optimists and believe in what they do. More importantly, though, I'd really just like to look dashing at least once before I'm 40.
The third is more challenging, and I'm forcing myself into a corner right now by posting it. Before my birthday in May. I'll be producing an urban fantasy podcast. It will feature submitted original fiction, and will pay. It won't be a pro-paying market, but it will pay. It will also cover some media criticism, and literature reviews. Sometime in the next few days, I'll be posting the rules here as well.
There's smaller goals. Cons, Costumes, my own writing, GRE's, certification classes, but those are the big three. And they all go live on Saturday.
Which is why I'm glad there's a gap week.
The holiday is done. There were people, there were gifts. I put effort into making strangers feel welcome, and tried not to feel alone. But yesterday, the year had ended. There was nothing left for me to do. I got my degree. I got divorced. I've been to see family and friends, and they've come to see me. I've run tours, I've worked with theatre companies, and I've been live on a podcast. But there's still a week left. A week where I can look back and see what I've done; where I can plan for what's to come.
And breathe.
I simply must learn to breathe.
I'm crap with resolutions. I'm crap with saying 'I'm going to do this!' and make it happen. I'll shut down. I don't know the how or why of it, but the more I tell, the less likely it becomes. In a normal circumstance, I would learn to just shut up. But I'm also not very good at that.
What -does- work is putting myself in a position where I can't -not- do what I've promised. That I back myself into a corner so tight that the only thing to do is succeed. And in 2011, there's more than a few things going on.
The first is working with my boyfriend to get him settled in Chicago. That's a big challenge and a bigger stressor. There's a lot of concerns and challenges, and I'm focusing on the material problems, rather than addressing the emotional ones. Over the year, I need to address all of them. I love him to pieces, and would a love a life with him.
The second, is Optimist Theatre's Will-ness program. I pledged to drop 75lbs over the next year, doing everything 'right': Diet, exercise, mental wellness. In return, I have a handful of sponsors pledging money on a per-pound basis. This breaks with some older mental health plans I had, but screw it. I love the Optimists and believe in what they do. More importantly, though, I'd really just like to look dashing at least once before I'm 40.
The third is more challenging, and I'm forcing myself into a corner right now by posting it. Before my birthday in May. I'll be producing an urban fantasy podcast. It will feature submitted original fiction, and will pay. It won't be a pro-paying market, but it will pay. It will also cover some media criticism, and literature reviews. Sometime in the next few days, I'll be posting the rules here as well.
There's smaller goals. Cons, Costumes, my own writing, GRE's, certification classes, but those are the big three. And they all go live on Saturday.
Which is why I'm glad there's a gap week.
The holiday is done. There were people, there were gifts. I put effort into making strangers feel welcome, and tried not to feel alone. But yesterday, the year had ended. There was nothing left for me to do. I got my degree. I got divorced. I've been to see family and friends, and they've come to see me. I've run tours, I've worked with theatre companies, and I've been live on a podcast. But there's still a week left. A week where I can look back and see what I've done; where I can plan for what's to come.
And breathe.
I simply must learn to breathe.
Friday, November 12, 2010
When in doubt, go back to what worked.
Eleven years ago, I became close friends with someone through fanfic. I wasn't a big follower of fanfic, and the stuff I wrote almost immediately found a new place to be, but it started 11 years of friendship, and the beginning of my writing path.
For both the friendship and the writing, things have been hard. For my friend, the differences seem to outweigh the commonalities, and it's harder still, now that my life is changing paths again. Writing is a pain, with piles of pages full of opening sentences, and the phrase written again and again when I get stuck: Maybe this isn't the story you want to tell. It's been painful. In both cases, I felt like it was time to give up.
Two weeks ago, I introduced my friend to a story-based web game that had all of the things we tend to like. As we hung out, we'd play the game over our smartphones. But when our visit ended, so did the play. Today, I happened to need him for some items in the game, and rather than just posting a request, I sent him a letter in the style of the game. To which he responded in kind with even more flair. The back and forth has begun.
I have to allow myself to use earlier tools, no matter how immature. If the goal is to get me writing, then the smaller, sillier tools have a use, and as I develop, I can go back to the tools that served me before school. And in reading my friend's missives, it's good to have that relationship rebuilding as well.
For both the friendship and the writing, things have been hard. For my friend, the differences seem to outweigh the commonalities, and it's harder still, now that my life is changing paths again. Writing is a pain, with piles of pages full of opening sentences, and the phrase written again and again when I get stuck: Maybe this isn't the story you want to tell. It's been painful. In both cases, I felt like it was time to give up.
Two weeks ago, I introduced my friend to a story-based web game that had all of the things we tend to like. As we hung out, we'd play the game over our smartphones. But when our visit ended, so did the play. Today, I happened to need him for some items in the game, and rather than just posting a request, I sent him a letter in the style of the game. To which he responded in kind with even more flair. The back and forth has begun.
I have to allow myself to use earlier tools, no matter how immature. If the goal is to get me writing, then the smaller, sillier tools have a use, and as I develop, I can go back to the tools that served me before school. And in reading my friend's missives, it's good to have that relationship rebuilding as well.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Trusting what's inside
I'm a big believer in dreams.
Not as astral journeys, or gateways into higher consciousness. Just as the sheer processing and cleanup of information that surrounds me. I love the idea that everything I take in within a day in data, sensory information, and emotional experience can be reviewed, sorted, edited, and incorporated into my personal narrative...While the personal narrative that is my 'self' experiences it.
I look forward to dreams when I'm in new environments, or when I've had a day where the sensory overload goes beyond my ability to process. The dreams try to put all that information in context, and in that process, arrangements that are at the same time false (as in, the connections have nothing to do with each other) and awesome (as in tripping awesome).
In crisis points in my life, the same thing happens. For decades, it was a recurring dream. However, two months ago, the factors that made the recurring dream 'true' were eliminated. I could no longer dream of going back to school...I had gone, and triumphed. This week, though, I discovered that finishing school wasn't enough for my psyche, and I was hammering day after day, despairing of figuring out what to do with my life in the limited time I have left. Most of my friends are well on their way, with multiple successes and failures under their belt, moving on to paths I can barely fathom.
The misery I've felt over having done so little reached an apex last night, and I didn't want to go to bed. But exhaustion prevailed, and I was able to sleep in a position that allowed for deep dreaming.
And as a good dream does (whether fun or frightening), it attempted to contextualize everything, and came up with a narrative that was both wrong and awesome.
I get who my imagined 'players' are in my failure fantasy. I get where I see myself. I get why my comparisons to others are wrong. But at the same time...what a kickass narrative. I got to watch a great story, and until my body forced me awake (from moving into the -wrong- position), participate in it. I know where to go.
On a related note, I love my phone. Aside from it now being my alarm clock, the app 'Evernote' for immediate note-and-tag writing is fantastic. Best dream journal ever.
Not as astral journeys, or gateways into higher consciousness. Just as the sheer processing and cleanup of information that surrounds me. I love the idea that everything I take in within a day in data, sensory information, and emotional experience can be reviewed, sorted, edited, and incorporated into my personal narrative...While the personal narrative that is my 'self' experiences it.
I look forward to dreams when I'm in new environments, or when I've had a day where the sensory overload goes beyond my ability to process. The dreams try to put all that information in context, and in that process, arrangements that are at the same time false (as in, the connections have nothing to do with each other) and awesome (as in tripping awesome).
In crisis points in my life, the same thing happens. For decades, it was a recurring dream. However, two months ago, the factors that made the recurring dream 'true' were eliminated. I could no longer dream of going back to school...I had gone, and triumphed. This week, though, I discovered that finishing school wasn't enough for my psyche, and I was hammering day after day, despairing of figuring out what to do with my life in the limited time I have left. Most of my friends are well on their way, with multiple successes and failures under their belt, moving on to paths I can barely fathom.
The misery I've felt over having done so little reached an apex last night, and I didn't want to go to bed. But exhaustion prevailed, and I was able to sleep in a position that allowed for deep dreaming.
And as a good dream does (whether fun or frightening), it attempted to contextualize everything, and came up with a narrative that was both wrong and awesome.
I get who my imagined 'players' are in my failure fantasy. I get where I see myself. I get why my comparisons to others are wrong. But at the same time...what a kickass narrative. I got to watch a great story, and until my body forced me awake (from moving into the -wrong- position), participate in it. I know where to go.
On a related note, I love my phone. Aside from it now being my alarm clock, the app 'Evernote' for immediate note-and-tag writing is fantastic. Best dream journal ever.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
When volunteering for something feels like a vacation, the organizer is doing something right.
My big sister ran a tour of the haunted locales in a sleepy port town in wisconsin. My best friend and I went on the tour on Friday, hung out with the junior tour guides on saturday afternoon, and spent the evening keeping the candles lit in the cemetery for the final leg of the tour. My friend and I turned it into a picnic. A picnic amongst the dead in the middle of the night.
My big sister ran a tour of the haunted locales in a sleepy port town in wisconsin. My best friend and I went on the tour on Friday, hung out with the junior tour guides on saturday afternoon, and spent the evening keeping the candles lit in the cemetery for the final leg of the tour. My friend and I turned it into a picnic. A picnic amongst the dead in the middle of the night.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Taking the time to talk about time.
Time hit me twice yesterday.
The first in that I let my old triggers and fears hurt a friend. And in so doing, ended that friendship. At the moment, I have to believe that's permanent. I have to accept my mistake and move on. The problem was that he wasn't that person from the past, and in analysis, that person I perceived, probably wasn't the person he was.
From that pain, I had to see an aunt who was in town. I haven't seen her in seven years, and even than, only in the context of her family, which is crazy in the way that novels are written about. In the case of the older generation of the family, some already have been. When I was a child, we'd visit this aunt regularly, and in the context of her relationship with an abusive and violent husband, long divorced. My youth up to the age of 14, is piled of memories of fear and hostility for that world.
What I find instead is a dotty, not-unlike-my-mom professional woman on the cusp of retirement. She's funny, warm, and full of stories. We wander downtown, drink at the Walnut Room, have dinner at the Atwood (fulfilling at least 2 of my Burnham fantasies outright), and the hang out and talk. Just a happy, wonderful time.
This is not unlike the previous post. The universe isn't about me. So much more is going on. And because all that is going on, the people around me are in a constant state of change. I can't look at the selves 5, 10, or even 20 years ago and say that's who those people are. Because not only is it not true, I was perceiving them as the person I was back then as well, and I hope that I am different.
The first in that I let my old triggers and fears hurt a friend. And in so doing, ended that friendship. At the moment, I have to believe that's permanent. I have to accept my mistake and move on. The problem was that he wasn't that person from the past, and in analysis, that person I perceived, probably wasn't the person he was.
From that pain, I had to see an aunt who was in town. I haven't seen her in seven years, and even than, only in the context of her family, which is crazy in the way that novels are written about. In the case of the older generation of the family, some already have been. When I was a child, we'd visit this aunt regularly, and in the context of her relationship with an abusive and violent husband, long divorced. My youth up to the age of 14, is piled of memories of fear and hostility for that world.
What I find instead is a dotty, not-unlike-my-mom professional woman on the cusp of retirement. She's funny, warm, and full of stories. We wander downtown, drink at the Walnut Room, have dinner at the Atwood (fulfilling at least 2 of my Burnham fantasies outright), and the hang out and talk. Just a happy, wonderful time.
This is not unlike the previous post. The universe isn't about me. So much more is going on. And because all that is going on, the people around me are in a constant state of change. I can't look at the selves 5, 10, or even 20 years ago and say that's who those people are. Because not only is it not true, I was perceiving them as the person I was back then as well, and I hope that I am different.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wouldn't it be better if it was all about you?
Think of the comfort. Your delights would be shared, your outrages would be met, and even more, people would have to think your opinions were valid and worth acknowledging.
Blogging feeds this mentality. The shortforms amplify it further. People exist only in reaction to you, your likes and dislikes. And in being soundless icons on a screen, you can treat them any way that you like. The distance between people grows ever wider.
I want the world to be all about me. It's hard to get rid of that feeling. It isn't about me, or about them. The world is, and will be after I'm gone.
And before I act or react in the hopes that it's all about me, I have to remind myself that the world is.
Think of the comfort. Your delights would be shared, your outrages would be met, and even more, people would have to think your opinions were valid and worth acknowledging.
Blogging feeds this mentality. The shortforms amplify it further. People exist only in reaction to you, your likes and dislikes. And in being soundless icons on a screen, you can treat them any way that you like. The distance between people grows ever wider.
I want the world to be all about me. It's hard to get rid of that feeling. It isn't about me, or about them. The world is, and will be after I'm gone.
And before I act or react in the hopes that it's all about me, I have to remind myself that the world is.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A rather typical wednesday
This is one of those weeks where you wait for the fun to happen.
Friday afternoon, one of my best friends in the world is going to come into town, and we'll laugh, joke, and enjoy each other's company. We'll hunt for good food, and explore the fun of Halloween. I just have to get to Friday.
At work, there's a recent wave of open jobs posted. In 2009, the company downsized, and is just beginning to build back the staff it needs to work. I've been applying like crazy for positions just above me, and have been on some interviews. I'm also applying outside of work, at universities, so I can obtain some opportunity for graduate education. None of it, though, is what I want to do.
But what do I want to do?
There's two things I want to do. Write and perform. The writing I know what's required of me, and it's a matter of prioritizing the time to do so. When Twilight Tales existed, it was easier to 'stress' myself into productivity. It's how I got through school. Make myself frightened enough, and miracles happen. It's just not healthy.
The other is performance. And that's tricky. Years ago, boosted by my perception of myself at faire, I tried out for roles in Chicago theatre. The only ones I ever got were 'make fun of the fat guy' roles. I was never able to either abandon that role, or own it in a way that didn't want me to cut my wrists. Recently, there's been an alternative, one where I feel I have control, but I'll get to that later in the blog.
My concern with both is that it's too late. I've put my time into database entry and business administration, the 'fallbacks' I thought I was supposed to have. And now that's my life. I never fell back. I started here, and anything I want to do requires 'climbing up'.
So I begin. I begin on the day where everything feels like shit, where I have a day left before I face family I really don't care for, in an environment that's really uncomfortable. Where -everything- is wrong, and hope is far away.
I begin today, so I'm ready for Friday.
And all the Fridays coming.
FYI, this will be where fiction resides, where I put in my practice, and follow up on the results. This will follow up on theatre as well, and my attempts to do something within that world. There will be more. Likely fewer politics, some religion, and some NSFW content. Away we go.
Friday afternoon, one of my best friends in the world is going to come into town, and we'll laugh, joke, and enjoy each other's company. We'll hunt for good food, and explore the fun of Halloween. I just have to get to Friday.
At work, there's a recent wave of open jobs posted. In 2009, the company downsized, and is just beginning to build back the staff it needs to work. I've been applying like crazy for positions just above me, and have been on some interviews. I'm also applying outside of work, at universities, so I can obtain some opportunity for graduate education. None of it, though, is what I want to do.
But what do I want to do?
There's two things I want to do. Write and perform. The writing I know what's required of me, and it's a matter of prioritizing the time to do so. When Twilight Tales existed, it was easier to 'stress' myself into productivity. It's how I got through school. Make myself frightened enough, and miracles happen. It's just not healthy.
The other is performance. And that's tricky. Years ago, boosted by my perception of myself at faire, I tried out for roles in Chicago theatre. The only ones I ever got were 'make fun of the fat guy' roles. I was never able to either abandon that role, or own it in a way that didn't want me to cut my wrists. Recently, there's been an alternative, one where I feel I have control, but I'll get to that later in the blog.
My concern with both is that it's too late. I've put my time into database entry and business administration, the 'fallbacks' I thought I was supposed to have. And now that's my life. I never fell back. I started here, and anything I want to do requires 'climbing up'.
So I begin. I begin on the day where everything feels like shit, where I have a day left before I face family I really don't care for, in an environment that's really uncomfortable. Where -everything- is wrong, and hope is far away.
I begin today, so I'm ready for Friday.
And all the Fridays coming.
FYI, this will be where fiction resides, where I put in my practice, and follow up on the results. This will follow up on theatre as well, and my attempts to do something within that world. There will be more. Likely fewer politics, some religion, and some NSFW content. Away we go.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
On friday, I send out my questionnare out to a bunch of different theatres for my paper. Hopefully they'll respond. Otherwise I'll have to redirect the paper.
This stage always worries me. I worry that I'm asking too many or too few questions, whether or not these questions are the 'right' questions, if I'm giving enough time...After they're mailed, I'm spending a bit of sunday creating my own profiles for each theatre. Kind of get a head start.
As always, I'm afraid of just looking like an idiot. Problem is, if I don't do this, I -will- be one.
34 questions isn't too much, right?
This stage always worries me. I worry that I'm asking too many or too few questions, whether or not these questions are the 'right' questions, if I'm giving enough time...After they're mailed, I'm spending a bit of sunday creating my own profiles for each theatre. Kind of get a head start.
As always, I'm afraid of just looking like an idiot. Problem is, if I don't do this, I -will- be one.
34 questions isn't too much, right?
Monday, April 19, 2010
In which I sound like a total idiot.
Bruised Orange's production of 'DeTermination' began last week, and I house managed the preview. I had intended to blog about that, and a half dozen other things, but I then went away to the forest to meditate and get my head straight.
I don't know if it worked. I still want to do arts administration.
The title of this blog is really stupid and pretentious. It was done without thinking, and was more a reaction to the blogs that want to show you 'behind the scenes' of whatever group the poster is part of. The show itself is dramatic and glamorous, but whatever's going on behind the scenes is always so much more amazing and awesome somehow. Maybe it's the hint of exclusivity. What do the pretty people get up to?
None of these blogs talk about the room.
There's always a room. The room can be a series of cubicles inside a theatre complex. It can be a trailer at a faire. In my case, it's a laptop wherever I can find a quiet place.
This room is full of telephone numbers, charts, graphs, to-do lists, and piles of emails. It's the fifth element of theatre. Audience,Actor,Stagecraft,Author,Room.
The room at times feels like the antithesis of theatre. No one goes into theatre to manage receipts, or calculate unemployment insurance, or present a foundation the demographic breakdown of audience members for financing that targets projects that will attract millenials...
Because of that, the work becomes the unpleasant chore for one or more members of the company. Watching an actor working two jobs to fulfill their dream of playing Macbeth spend their few spare hours negotiating a grant application is not a pretty sight. Everyone knows they need the room, and someone to be in it...They just don't want to be the ones inside the room.
My degree, and the work I'm doing, puts me square in the room. And I have to ask myself why I'm here. Being in the room means putting together a receipt and accounting system before wednesday. It means looking up the board's emails and phone#'s so they can get access to a database. It's finding a way to tell a large theatre that the reason your company is so successful with a target demographic is because of all the awesome things you do...And make sure the theatre doesn't realize the answer is 'they're the only ones who show up'.
It's puffing yourself up to bigger companies so you can swipe their lists.
It's turning your crazy drinking buddy who works at CNA into an excited board member.
It's making audience members excited that the pocket change they gave you goes to the light bulbs and space rental.
It's demographic breakdowns
It's applications
It's meetings
It's meetings
It's meetings
And the thing is, when I talk about it with others, I get so excited. I mean seriously excited. I can't stop talking about it. You want to hear about a large database training session I had with the League and Chicago Shakespeare? ASK ME! Holy shit, I will make your soul bleed with talk of netflix-style ordering of lists, and demographic breakdowns by religious affiliation and zip code. I can talk for hours with powerpoint slides about the utility of audience members visualizing where their contribution goes, down to the light bulbs ($16.53, but for only $510, you can get us an 8-piece set with 2 dimmers, clamps, cables and scaffolding! I'm sure you could afford $65.95 for four lamps! At that price there's no difference between buying a lamp or a bulb!).
I love this, and it's more than a little crazy. But it does something for me. Doing this, and loving this makes more theatre happen. It gives everyone else the breathing space to be their best. And that not only makes more theatre, but better theatre.
I live in the room. If I have my way, that room will -be- a room someday. With a window. Looking over backstage.
Step by step. Right now, I have to make a box office slip by Wednesday.
I don't know if it worked. I still want to do arts administration.
The title of this blog is really stupid and pretentious. It was done without thinking, and was more a reaction to the blogs that want to show you 'behind the scenes' of whatever group the poster is part of. The show itself is dramatic and glamorous, but whatever's going on behind the scenes is always so much more amazing and awesome somehow. Maybe it's the hint of exclusivity. What do the pretty people get up to?
None of these blogs talk about the room.
There's always a room. The room can be a series of cubicles inside a theatre complex. It can be a trailer at a faire. In my case, it's a laptop wherever I can find a quiet place.
This room is full of telephone numbers, charts, graphs, to-do lists, and piles of emails. It's the fifth element of theatre. Audience,Actor,Stagecraft,Author,Room.
The room at times feels like the antithesis of theatre. No one goes into theatre to manage receipts, or calculate unemployment insurance, or present a foundation the demographic breakdown of audience members for financing that targets projects that will attract millenials...
Because of that, the work becomes the unpleasant chore for one or more members of the company. Watching an actor working two jobs to fulfill their dream of playing Macbeth spend their few spare hours negotiating a grant application is not a pretty sight. Everyone knows they need the room, and someone to be in it...They just don't want to be the ones inside the room.
My degree, and the work I'm doing, puts me square in the room. And I have to ask myself why I'm here. Being in the room means putting together a receipt and accounting system before wednesday. It means looking up the board's emails and phone#'s so they can get access to a database. It's finding a way to tell a large theatre that the reason your company is so successful with a target demographic is because of all the awesome things you do...And make sure the theatre doesn't realize the answer is 'they're the only ones who show up'.
It's puffing yourself up to bigger companies so you can swipe their lists.
It's turning your crazy drinking buddy who works at CNA into an excited board member.
It's making audience members excited that the pocket change they gave you goes to the light bulbs and space rental.
It's demographic breakdowns
It's applications
It's meetings
It's meetings
It's meetings
And the thing is, when I talk about it with others, I get so excited. I mean seriously excited. I can't stop talking about it. You want to hear about a large database training session I had with the League and Chicago Shakespeare? ASK ME! Holy shit, I will make your soul bleed with talk of netflix-style ordering of lists, and demographic breakdowns by religious affiliation and zip code. I can talk for hours with powerpoint slides about the utility of audience members visualizing where their contribution goes, down to the light bulbs ($16.53, but for only $510, you can get us an 8-piece set with 2 dimmers, clamps, cables and scaffolding! I'm sure you could afford $65.95 for four lamps! At that price there's no difference between buying a lamp or a bulb!).
I love this, and it's more than a little crazy. But it does something for me. Doing this, and loving this makes more theatre happen. It gives everyone else the breathing space to be their best. And that not only makes more theatre, but better theatre.
I live in the room. If I have my way, that room will -be- a room someday. With a window. Looking over backstage.
Step by step. Right now, I have to make a box office slip by Wednesday.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
First Meeting.
Friday was the first meeting I had with the whole Board for BOTC.
The Board consists of three individuals, Clint, Mark and Ann. They represent the creative and practical work of the company as well. In addition, John Morrison was in attendance. John is the director of the upcoming show, ‘Daddy Longlegs’, which will be presented on the beach of the lakeshore.
This is my first time talking nuts and bolts with the company. BOTC is out of their trial period for being a nonprofit, so they’re pretty locked, but they need to grow. We got to talk about the upcoming season, and what’s been going on with their current project, but the talk went to developing the brand and fundraising.
BOTC has a lot of tools at their disposal to reach their audience. They have a successful weekly show that brings in an audience, they have a solid facebook presence, a website, and a blog. Talk went to actively utilizing the three together, as well as including new tools.
• Production Journal – This is becoming essential. Audiences and donors need to feel like they’re part of the production, and the journal keeps everyone up to date. More importantly, that show never stops being on the audience’s minds.
• Press – Having a play set and staged in the lake is pretty unique. BOTC needs to get people writing about the show. Bloggers, The local press, etc… Moreso, every time someone –does- write BOTC up, it needs to go on our blogs, on facebook.
• Video. This got discussed a lot. BOTC’s main show is staged readings of personal ads from local papers. They’re hilarious. Videotaping some of them, along with select scenes from upcoming shows keeps the audience and newcomers engaged. Something funny on youtube could stretch even further.
• Direct mail. This is where I’m getting my start. Utilizing the Big list, we can reach thousands of households in areas we want to hit. It requires learning more about postal costs, but the results, both in getting audiences, and in mapping demographics is invaluable.
The other aspect of using the Big List is fundraising. Donor lists are available through the service, and we could access those lists for new fundraising efforts. Aggressive fundraising is relatively new to BOTC. They’re funded primarily through grants, with an annual fundraising event that takes place at a local bar. This year is the beginning of building mailing lists, coming up with donation drives, and coming up with new fundraising.
One of the ways discussed is both effective and a favorite of mine: Offering for ‘sale’ the key components of the theatre. For example:
$2.50 buys a light bulb
$15 feeds our interns
$50 buys the programs for the upcoming show.
These range from the practical to the ambitious:
$300 buys a new sound board.
$750 puts the company on a creative retreat
$5,000 pays for a residence.
Lifeline theatre in Rogers park does this extraordinarily well. Against one wall of the foyer is a stack of slips covering everything on Lifeline’s list from the smallest component to the most ambitious project. People can donate as much or as little as they like, but if a hundred patrons all buy the $2.50 screwdriver, that adds up to the $2,500 lighting scaffold. Bit by bit we build a theatre.
We also discussed internships. It seems that I’ll be in charge of the corralling of those. How do you provide value to people you don’t pay? We went over some ideas, and the big one was participation and access. I used renfaire as an example, and it seems that there’s a lot more value that we can provide than we expected. We’ll split the internships into shows rather than seasons, and I’m in charge of interviews.
The Board consists of three individuals, Clint, Mark and Ann. They represent the creative and practical work of the company as well. In addition, John Morrison was in attendance. John is the director of the upcoming show, ‘Daddy Longlegs’, which will be presented on the beach of the lakeshore.
This is my first time talking nuts and bolts with the company. BOTC is out of their trial period for being a nonprofit, so they’re pretty locked, but they need to grow. We got to talk about the upcoming season, and what’s been going on with their current project, but the talk went to developing the brand and fundraising.
BOTC has a lot of tools at their disposal to reach their audience. They have a successful weekly show that brings in an audience, they have a solid facebook presence, a website, and a blog. Talk went to actively utilizing the three together, as well as including new tools.
• Production Journal – This is becoming essential. Audiences and donors need to feel like they’re part of the production, and the journal keeps everyone up to date. More importantly, that show never stops being on the audience’s minds.
• Press – Having a play set and staged in the lake is pretty unique. BOTC needs to get people writing about the show. Bloggers, The local press, etc… Moreso, every time someone –does- write BOTC up, it needs to go on our blogs, on facebook.
• Video. This got discussed a lot. BOTC’s main show is staged readings of personal ads from local papers. They’re hilarious. Videotaping some of them, along with select scenes from upcoming shows keeps the audience and newcomers engaged. Something funny on youtube could stretch even further.
• Direct mail. This is where I’m getting my start. Utilizing the Big list, we can reach thousands of households in areas we want to hit. It requires learning more about postal costs, but the results, both in getting audiences, and in mapping demographics is invaluable.
The other aspect of using the Big List is fundraising. Donor lists are available through the service, and we could access those lists for new fundraising efforts. Aggressive fundraising is relatively new to BOTC. They’re funded primarily through grants, with an annual fundraising event that takes place at a local bar. This year is the beginning of building mailing lists, coming up with donation drives, and coming up with new fundraising.
One of the ways discussed is both effective and a favorite of mine: Offering for ‘sale’ the key components of the theatre. For example:
$2.50 buys a light bulb
$15 feeds our interns
$50 buys the programs for the upcoming show.
These range from the practical to the ambitious:
$300 buys a new sound board.
$750 puts the company on a creative retreat
$5,000 pays for a residence.
Lifeline theatre in Rogers park does this extraordinarily well. Against one wall of the foyer is a stack of slips covering everything on Lifeline’s list from the smallest component to the most ambitious project. People can donate as much or as little as they like, but if a hundred patrons all buy the $2.50 screwdriver, that adds up to the $2,500 lighting scaffold. Bit by bit we build a theatre.
We also discussed internships. It seems that I’ll be in charge of the corralling of those. How do you provide value to people you don’t pay? We went over some ideas, and the big one was participation and access. I used renfaire as an example, and it seems that there’s a lot more value that we can provide than we expected. We’ll split the internships into shows rather than seasons, and I’m in charge of interviews.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Big List – Broadening community participation.
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been working as the business development intern for the Bruised Orange Theatre Company (BOTC). BOTC is fairly small itinerant group, who at the same time is a fully formed nonprofit.
My role as the BDI, is to try and figure out the different marketing and development opportunities that are available to BOTC, and make them work. Right now that means house managing their recent show Determination: The Reboot, and later on, corralling the actual 'grunt work' interns for the summer.
BOTC is looking to grow and expand, and to that end, they’ve taken advantage of numerous League of Chicago Theatre programs ranging from free and subsidized marketing to mentorship with other theaters. Recently, BOTC was invited to be part of a large-scale mailing list exchange and database called ‘The Big List’.
TRG Arts and The Big List
TRG Arts is a 15 year old arts consulting firm working in 8 markets through the United States. Although focusing on large cities such as Dallas and Chicago, they also take on smaller markets, and even whole states. Their combined database covers 50 million patron transactions to determine patron behavior.
Data for TRG’s databases comes from voluntary submission by individual theatres. In Chicago, TRG partnered with The League, and requested all the patron, member, and Board information from all member theatres. Members uploaded the information and were recently able to access their lists, and the data that list provides.
The Data
The benefit from providing all this information to TRG is fairly impressive. TRG matches the last name and address of every individual on the list, and obtains all pertinent information about them through Axiom. This enables the theatre to map their own list by economics, ethnicity, location, etc… TRG also provides large-scale analyses of the entire theatre community for use in advocacy.
The largest benefit of this data for the theatres, is the ability to compare and exchange mailing lists. Once the data is uploaded, from board members to single ticket purchasers, to subscribers, the theatre has the option to suppress individual lists. This prevents other theatres from requesting the information, but keeps the data available for the theatre for research purposes. The remaining lists are then available for exchange.
The Mailing Exchange
This part is brilliant. It’s based on a web-based shopping portal. Members can select lists by theatre, by location, by size, and request those lists from other members in a single stroke. For example:
BOTC wants to start their summer program They want to put together a direct-mail campaign to most the northside of Chicago, as far south as Belmont. They set up a campaign profile, with contact information, deadlines, and the purpose of the marketing campaign.
BOTC can then select the geography they want to affect. This can be anything from ‘X’ radius from the theatre, X range of Zip Codes or SCF’s, or individual codes. This filter will affect your existing mailing lists, and the ones you want to pull from.
The next step is that you shop from the available lists from all the theatres in the group. First selected is the theatres you want to work with. After selecting, BOTC then goes to a ‘purchase’ screen where individual lists are selected, which will have the size of the lists, and number of duplicates. After selecting all the lists you want to use, a single button click sends approval requests to all the theatres selected. If the theatre approves, BOTC now has access to a merged and cleaned mailing list available for the marketing campaign.
Paid services
All the above listed services are free. However, this same list can be divided up by demographics (income, age, ethnicity). This filtering costs ranging from $1.25 per thousand to up to $17.50 per thousand. A minimum order is $25, handled through credit card or invoice. To take the BOTC example again:
BOTC’s target market has always been the young, post-college crowd. Not a terrible amount of money, but consistent. For their production, they want to cater to an expanded version of that market, pulling mailing lists from similar theatres. They can attach filters to their list request of an age range of 18-35, and an income range of 15-40K. The two ranges would cost roughly $10 per thousand names. They assemble a list request that covers 3,000 names, pay $30, and when all the list requests are approved, BOTC has a large mail-merge that targets their special demographic for $30.
Additional data
BOTC can compare their lists to the lists of other theatres in the group. This aids in choosing which lists to use. If, for example, the lists of BOTC and Live Bait theatre were over 75% similar, they might not be the best people to request lists from.
Goal
TRG noted that in their research, a single axiom stood out: ‘The more they come, the more they come’. Patrons have an 85% return rate to theatre, and that’s not limited to a single company. The sharing of this information increases theatre attendance and participation across the board. Even for groups who are miserly with their lists, the option to control access and the opportunity for free analytics is definitely an incentive. The goal is to get more people exposed to theatre, and this exchange has the possibility to do so.
Personal
This is an amazing thing to be part of on the 'ground floor' for this community. Although the system is relatively simple to use, the variety of features and the huge amount of customization that's involved means that anyone who already has a specialty in this kind of exchange is going to be useful in markets that TRG has penetrated.
Notes for the Project
THis is the kind of tool I'm talking about for theatre development. As Chicago is just implementing this tool, I'm going to have to ask TRG for contact info for outside theatres to see how this works, and how the users feel about it.
Coming Soon
-Annotated Sources
-Mission Statement
-Notes on my first experiences as house manager
My role as the BDI, is to try and figure out the different marketing and development opportunities that are available to BOTC, and make them work. Right now that means house managing their recent show Determination: The Reboot, and later on, corralling the actual 'grunt work' interns for the summer.
BOTC is looking to grow and expand, and to that end, they’ve taken advantage of numerous League of Chicago Theatre programs ranging from free and subsidized marketing to mentorship with other theaters. Recently, BOTC was invited to be part of a large-scale mailing list exchange and database called ‘The Big List’.
TRG Arts and The Big List
TRG Arts is a 15 year old arts consulting firm working in 8 markets through the United States. Although focusing on large cities such as Dallas and Chicago, they also take on smaller markets, and even whole states. Their combined database covers 50 million patron transactions to determine patron behavior.
Data for TRG’s databases comes from voluntary submission by individual theatres. In Chicago, TRG partnered with The League, and requested all the patron, member, and Board information from all member theatres. Members uploaded the information and were recently able to access their lists, and the data that list provides.
The Data
The benefit from providing all this information to TRG is fairly impressive. TRG matches the last name and address of every individual on the list, and obtains all pertinent information about them through Axiom. This enables the theatre to map their own list by economics, ethnicity, location, etc… TRG also provides large-scale analyses of the entire theatre community for use in advocacy.
The largest benefit of this data for the theatres, is the ability to compare and exchange mailing lists. Once the data is uploaded, from board members to single ticket purchasers, to subscribers, the theatre has the option to suppress individual lists. This prevents other theatres from requesting the information, but keeps the data available for the theatre for research purposes. The remaining lists are then available for exchange.
The Mailing Exchange
This part is brilliant. It’s based on a web-based shopping portal. Members can select lists by theatre, by location, by size, and request those lists from other members in a single stroke. For example:
BOTC wants to start their summer program They want to put together a direct-mail campaign to most the northside of Chicago, as far south as Belmont. They set up a campaign profile, with contact information, deadlines, and the purpose of the marketing campaign.
BOTC can then select the geography they want to affect. This can be anything from ‘X’ radius from the theatre, X range of Zip Codes or SCF’s, or individual codes. This filter will affect your existing mailing lists, and the ones you want to pull from.
The next step is that you shop from the available lists from all the theatres in the group. First selected is the theatres you want to work with. After selecting, BOTC then goes to a ‘purchase’ screen where individual lists are selected, which will have the size of the lists, and number of duplicates. After selecting all the lists you want to use, a single button click sends approval requests to all the theatres selected. If the theatre approves, BOTC now has access to a merged and cleaned mailing list available for the marketing campaign.
Paid services
All the above listed services are free. However, this same list can be divided up by demographics (income, age, ethnicity). This filtering costs ranging from $1.25 per thousand to up to $17.50 per thousand. A minimum order is $25, handled through credit card or invoice. To take the BOTC example again:
BOTC’s target market has always been the young, post-college crowd. Not a terrible amount of money, but consistent. For their production, they want to cater to an expanded version of that market, pulling mailing lists from similar theatres. They can attach filters to their list request of an age range of 18-35, and an income range of 15-40K. The two ranges would cost roughly $10 per thousand names. They assemble a list request that covers 3,000 names, pay $30, and when all the list requests are approved, BOTC has a large mail-merge that targets their special demographic for $30.
Additional data
BOTC can compare their lists to the lists of other theatres in the group. This aids in choosing which lists to use. If, for example, the lists of BOTC and Live Bait theatre were over 75% similar, they might not be the best people to request lists from.
Goal
TRG noted that in their research, a single axiom stood out: ‘The more they come, the more they come’. Patrons have an 85% return rate to theatre, and that’s not limited to a single company. The sharing of this information increases theatre attendance and participation across the board. Even for groups who are miserly with their lists, the option to control access and the opportunity for free analytics is definitely an incentive. The goal is to get more people exposed to theatre, and this exchange has the possibility to do so.
Personal
This is an amazing thing to be part of on the 'ground floor' for this community. Although the system is relatively simple to use, the variety of features and the huge amount of customization that's involved means that anyone who already has a specialty in this kind of exchange is going to be useful in markets that TRG has penetrated.
Notes for the Project
THis is the kind of tool I'm talking about for theatre development. As Chicago is just implementing this tool, I'm going to have to ask TRG for contact info for outside theatres to see how this works, and how the users feel about it.
Coming Soon
-Annotated Sources
-Mission Statement
-Notes on my first experiences as house manager
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